The Kanmusu Awaken
by SkywalkerT-65
Summary: Luke Skywalker was accustomed to strange events. He was a Jedi, if a new one, and the Force had given him many surprises. But even he could not have expected how his life would change, when he stumbled across four strange women in the forests of Endor...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: And, the aforementioned (in _Destiny_ ) SW/KC cross. Not as long, but I'll still post both the first two chapters.**

 **These started as snips though, so not as _long_ of chapters at first.**

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 **Chapter 1:**

Luke Skywalker sighed softly, as he left behind the massive celebration behind him. He could still hear the sound of the celebrations behind him, Rebel soldiers and Ewoks alike cheering the end of the Empire. He would have loved to stay and join in any other circumstances, and had indeed participated for some time. But his bones ached from the Emperor's lightning, and the last Jedi was mentally exhausted from his ordeal as well. As such, he had left the village behind and began walking towards the clearing where Lando had left the _Falcon_. Han wouldn't mind if he rested in the old freighter, and would probably join him eventually anyway.

The Jedi felt a weary smile tug at his lips actually, at the thought of Han and Leia joining him. He wasn't blind by any definition, even if his own romantic experience could be summed up on one hand- and that was counting the moments with his sister that had him shuddering in hindsight. Frankly, knowing that Leia _was_ his sister, just made him happy that she had ended up with Han. The man was a scoundrel through and through, but he would do right by her. There wasn't any _other_ man Luke would trust with his sister, at any rate.

 _Though, Leia would probably kill me very slowly if I even suggested that she choose someone I approved of._

If either sibling had inherited a temper, it was her. That was for sure.

That aside, Luke was more concerned with resting and recovering from his experience at the moment, than in doing anything else. And that was what he _would_ have done, were it not for a flash of... _something_...in the Force. The Jedi's head snapped up, weariness vanishing from his expression. Luke's hand dropped to where his lightsaber was clipped to his belt, blue eyes scanning the forest around him. There was... _something_ out there. It wasn't like anything he had felt before, and it wasn't dark either. So it wasn't the Emperor, somehow surviving his fall. Nor was it his Father's spirit.

Then what...?

 _"This is very wrong, dess! Hiei, do you know how we entered this forest?"_

"Not at all onee-sama!"

"Kirishima?"

"According to my calculations...no."

"Oh NO how will I tell the Admiral, dess?!"

Luke blinked slowly, at the sound of female voices. They weren't speaking any language he was familiar with...beyond the one word, the 'no' from the first voice. That had been Basic, albeit with an accent he wasn't familiar with. He wasn't sure what they were saying though, beyond that.  
Or, of course, why there would be three or more girls who spoke a language he didn't know, wandering around Endor. Not to mention there was still _something_ tugging at his senses. This was a very strange situation indeed. Shaking his head, the Jedi twisted on his heel and began navigating around the trees towards the voices. If nothing else, these girls probably- emphasis on the _probably_ -weren't hostile. Women weren't unheard of in the Imperial military, but female stormtroopers were exceedingly rare, and wouldn't be shouting like that.

Right...?

 _"I hear someone, dess!"_

"Let me greet them, onee-sama!"

And they apparently had great hearing. Luke stepped over a branch, and was promptly forced to raise a hand to his eyes. A blinding light was shining from the direction of the voices, as they chattered away in that unfamiliar language.

 _"I think you are binding them, Hiei onee-san."_

"Oh..."

A newer, much softer voice, managed to get the second girl to turn off whatever light she was using. Luke lowered his hand, blinking the stars from his eyes. It was only when his vision cleared, that he could finally see the source of the voices. That had him blinking even more, in shock instead of to clear his eyes. Well, to be fair, it was also to clear his eyes and make sure he wasn't seeing things.

Because four girls around his age, dressed in short skirts and airy white tunics, was not what he would have expected. There was a girl with long brown hair, tied up in two buns that had him flashing back to the Death Star, so long ago. Her brown eyes didn't exactly help matters. Next to her was a sheepish looking girl, probably the light one. Her features were similar enough to suggest a sibling, but her lighter colored hair was cropped short, and her eyes were a shade lighter blue than his own. The third girl had even _shorter_ hair, the darker locks cut to frame her face. A face covered by...old style glasses?

The last girl had hair as long as the first, unbound around a soft face with reddish eyes.

"Hello?" Luke attempted, banking on the hope they at least had an understanding of Basic. He'd rather not rely on Threepio in this situation.

"OH!" the first girl stepped forward, a wide grin crossing her face, "You speak ENGLISH?"

"...Basic," the Jedi replied slowly, a bit offput by the enthusiasm in the girl's voice, "Yes. What...actually, _how_ did you four get here? Endor isn't exactly an easy place to reach."

"ENDOR? I thought we were in Japan, dess!" she seemed confused by what Luke had said, turning to her...sisters, maybe?

 _"I thought we were too, onee-sama!"_ that was the second girl, looking up at her apparent sister.

 _"This defies all logic."_

"Haruna is confused as well."

As the girls went back to chattering in that strange language, Luke elected to study them with the Force. He still felt...there was something off. He didn't know what, but these girls were not normal humans. There was a _tangible_ sense of power around them, far more than their lithe frames indicated. It wasn't like the Force either. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but these girls had a sense of being larger than they appeared, and far stronger. Strong enough to snap him like a twig, maybe.

It was all very strange.

"YOU," the first girl turned back to the Jedi, a curious look on her face, "Can you show us where to go?"

"I can...take you to my ship," Luke nodded slowly, "Miss...?"

"OH, how rude of me to not introduce myself, dess!" the brunette dramatically held a hand to her face, "I am the fast battleship Kongou, dess! These are my SISTERS, Hiei, Haruna and Kirishima!"

 _Fast...battleship?_

Putting that aside for the moment, Luke merely nodded again, and gestured over his shoulder, "Follow me then, Miss Kongou. I'm Luke by the way, Luke Skywalker."

'Kongou' just grinned widely at him, "We will follow you, Skywalker-san! Lead us dess!"

That verbal tick was probably the least strange thing about this situation. As he lead the excitable girls towards the Falcon, Luke still couldn't make heads or tails of their strange Force signatures. The sense of power and strength far beyond their appearance wouldn't go away. Nor would the sense that they weren't quite human, looks to the contrary. He would be the first to not judge a person on how they looked, but that didn't change the oddity of the situation. He wasn't as trained in Jedi arts as he would like, but Luke Skywalker was hardly a _novice_. That something could confuse him so deeply, unsettled him in a way.

These girls were odd, nice, but odd. They weren't acting hostile in any way either. But he got the feeling that, if it came down to blows, they might well be able to best him. He was still recovering from his ordeal on the Second Death Star. And the sense of great power...he wasn't confident in his chances, if a fight broke out. In that regard, he was going to have to do everything he could to keep them happy. At least until support could arrive.

 _I don't know why she introduced herself as a battleship either...that is..._

Shaking his head, Luke smiled wearily when the _Falcon_ came into view. The old freighter bore new battlescars from the fight over Endor, but was as familiar as his own hands by now. There were small gouges where blaster fire had gotten through the shields, and the sensor dish was flat out gone. But it was still the same old _Falcon_.

Except...

 _The sisters aren't the only strange feeling._

There was a feeling like, and unlike, the sisters centered on the Falcon. Luke felt his hand drift to his saber once again, as he walked carefully to the extended boarding ramp.

"Skywalker-san?" Kongou was right beside him, making the Jedi flinch ever so slightly at the speed of her movement, "Is something wrong, dess?"

"No, not at all," Luke carefully replied, as he walked to the ramp. His lightsaber was now in hand, green glow casting an eerie light on the dim ramp.

He could sense the awe from the strange girls behind him, but that hardly mattered. Luke's entire focus was on the _Falcon,_ and the strange energy he could feel in the main lounge. Only keeping a tenuous focus on the girls behind him, the Jedi warily walked to that room, flicking the lighting on with a small exertion of Force energy. The bright white lights of the _Falcon_ were a welcome sight, a familiar sight.

What they illuminated, was rather less so.

"A..."

"Oh, another kanmusu!"

Strange word aside, Luke frowned ever so softly. There was a small little girl, stretched out under a blanket on the _Falcon's_ lounge, where he himself had been after Bespin. There was a bloody bandage across her head, dirty blonde hair sticking out over it, though the length was impossible to tell with her positioning. Nor could he tell what the girl, a child no older than ten, was wearing. Despite her age though...the girl was staring at him with intelligent brown eyes, that held a savvy look to them that almost reminded him of Han. Her soft features, soft in spite of the fact she was somewhat thinner than was probably healthy, had a look entirely unfitting of a child.

This was a girl wiser than her years.

"Luke!"

If he hadn't been shocked before...the familiar and happy tone in the girl's soft- _weak_ -voice was something he hadn't expected.

"I'm sorry," Luke's frown deepened, "I've never met you before. Who are you?"

The girl winced, pulling herself up slightly. Her sickly pallor grew ever more pale, before she leaned back against her resting place, "I know you though Luke. You don't recognize me, even with your fancy Jedi powers?"

"No."

A weak chuckle came from the girl, as she held a hand to her bloody bandage, "My name is Falcon. As in, Millennium Falcon."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Chapter two ahoy.**

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 **Chapter 2:**

 _"Intensify forward firepower!"_

 _"Too late!"_

 _"In..."_

 _"No!"_

Blue-grey eyes snapped open, a shuddering gasp coming from the lips of the face they were part of. Eyes that had opened for the first time. Stars floated around the...girl...the eyes belonged to, as she felt the harsh heat of solar energy running over her body. Unsure of how she had ended up in this form, the girl- and she was certain she was a woman -instinctively raised her powerful shields. She felt the familiar thrum of her generators coming online, accompanied by a warmth in her chest and a tingling sensation along her limbs. Limbs, that when she looked down, were clad in dark clothing.

Dark, Imperial grey. An Admiral's uniform, customized to take into account her gender. Her tunic was much the same as those who had commanded her, rank proudly displayed on her breast. However, in place of the typical pants, she wore a skirt that reached slightly below the middle of her thighs. Such a short skirt would have been outlawed on an Imperial Star Destroyer...but it felt _right_ , nonetheless. The same could be said for her socks, extending to only a bit beneath the frilly end of her skirt. Or her boots, Imperial standard but for the glowing engine nozzles attached to her ankles.

Nozzles that bore the dull red glow indicative of an _Executor_ -class Star Dreadnought. Indicative of the nameship of that class.

"Executor. Flagship of the Imperial Navy. Flagship of Death Squadron. Of Lord Vader."

Speaking her name, for the first time, Executor held a hand to her face. Sharp features were underneath it, as she rubbed at soft skin. Even if she couldn't see her face, she knew it had aristocratic features, not out of place of the Coruscanti elite. And she knew her eyes were a blueish-gray coloration, almost hidden under long black hair, tied back to keep it out of her face. She knew this, yet she shouldn't. Her last memory had been of her hull, shattered and burning, as it fell to the Death Star. There had been nothing but darkness after that.

By all rights, that should have been her end. How, then, had she become...this?

Holding up her hand once more, the Star Dreadnought clenched it tightly, feeling the power of her old hull contained in the tiny object. How she still had that power was as much beyond her comprehension as being alive. Alive, and floating in the debris field of the Death Star. Her sacrifice had been in vain, then. She could only hope the Emperor and Lord Vader had escaped. Then her failure wouldn't be...

 _"You never failed me, my loyal friend."_

Executor's head snapped up, a voice echoing around her. Instincts, instincts that she had never possessed before, had her arm moving up as well. A massive- compared to her lithe form -gunbarrel materialized on her arm. She knew instinctively, that this was an amalgamation of many heavy turbolasers, and was more than capable of killing anything that attacked her. But...that voice...she had never heard it before. And yet...

 _"There is no need to fight. In fact, even you wouldn't be able to hurt me now."_

"Who..." Executor's voice cracked, the massive warship thoroughly unused to _talking_ , "Who are you?!"

Blue light suffused her field of view, a humanoid form at the center of the light. Executor could not make out the features of this human, the light obscuring any details beyond _his_ male gender. Even so, she somehow knew this man was smiling at her, in a way entirely unbefitting of any Imperial officer she may have once known.

 _"I'm not surprised you don't recognize my voice. After all, you only heard me with that damn mask on. If there's any good thing about dying, it's that I don't have to be in that suit,"_ the man replied, his glowing features moving in a small shrug.

The dreadnought blinked slowly, eyes narrowing, "Mask...Lord Vader?"

 _"In the flesh, if you want to call this that. However, that is not who I am. Not any longer. I'm what I was before, Anakin Skywalker."_

By all rights, Executor should have been firing on this...thing. There was no way this could be Lord Vader. Nor could it be Anakin Skywalker, a man who had died long before she was even a spark in her designer's eye. However, for some reason, she knew he was telling the truth. She could not even begin to describe it, but she _knew_. This _was_ Lord Vader, returned from the grave. The Star Dreadnought had no way to prove her feelings, yet she didn't doubt them. She should have, but she couldn't.

"My apologies my Lord," Executor lowered her arm, her turbolaser banks powering down, as she bowed her head. Dark hair fell in front of her eyes, as she felt the harsh sting of _failure_ ring through her heart, "I failed to prevent the Rebels from destroying the Death Star. From killing you and our Emperor."

Lord Vader, she refused to call him Skywalker, merely shook his head, _"Like I said before, you failed no one Executor. My loyal friend, you fought harder than your designers could have dreamed. Moreover, and I hate to break this to you, the Emperor was already dead before the Death Star was destroyed. He betrayed_ me _and attempted to murder my son. He succeeded, in murdering me."_

Clashing emotions went through the Star Dreadnought upon hearing those words. On the one hand, she should be- and was to some extent -appalled that her Lord had killed the Emperor. She could hear the unspoken words, clear as the stars around her. On the other side, her Lord was who she was ultimately loyal to. He had been the one to be with her, from the moment her construction began. The Emperor had been an ideal. The one ruling the nation she served, and the one ultimately in command of all her actions. But he had been a nebulous force, one who had only rarely walked her halls.

 _What is loyalty, if not that towards the one who commands you?_

It had been Lord Vader, who she was truly following. And who she truly, unequivocally, considered her leader. And as the Heir to the Empire, he was the only man who she could see, carrying more loyalty for her than the Emperor himself. Perhaps most importantly however, the woman felt a spark of _anger_ in her chest. The unfamiliar feeling originated from one simple fact. Lord Vader had said the Emperor betrayed _him_ , not the other way around. He had attempted to kill her Lord and his...his son.

Vague memories of her Lord talking about a 'Son of Skywalker' echoed through her mind. Had this been...no, that wasn't important now. Nothing was. For, the Empire had lost her leaders.

"Who am I to serve now?" Executor whispered, blue-grey eyes trailing through the debris surrounding her, before finishing on the distant form of the Rebel Fleet that had destroyed her, "You and the Emperor are gone, my Lord. Who remains for me to serve?"

 _"If they can deal with who you are, which I'm not entirely sure how to myself,"_ there was newfound humor in Lord Vader's voice, completely unfamiliar to his loyal warship, _"I imagine that plenty of Moffs would love to have you in their fleets, my friend. But if you yearn to serve the_ Empire _, there is no place for you. Pestage. Isard. They may hold it together for a time, but the Emperor made it where the Empire can't survive without him or myself. The Rebellion_ will _win in the end, make no mistake. It would take a stronger hand than any of the Moffs to unite the Empire again."_

That was...well, that was what worried Executor.

"I...see. What then, should I do?"

Even as she asked that, an answer came to mind. The Empire could not survive...without a strong guiding hand...without an heir. Lord Vader had been the Heir to Emperor Palpatine. Would logic then dictate that the Son of Skywalker, was the heir to Lord Vader? The Heir to the Empire?

"Your son. Could he not unite the Empire?" there was a note of hope in Executor's voice, as she looked out at the Rebel Fleet one last time, before turning back to her Lord.

 _"Good luck trying that. Luke is a Jedi. He will never willingly work for the Empire, leave alone lead it in my stead. However, that is a favor I was going to ask of you...and Devastator, who has also returned and is probably heading for Endor now,"_ Lord Vader's hidden face looked at the Sanctuary Moon beneath them, _"I want you, to serve my son as you served me, my loyal friend. Executor, he may never be the Emperor. But I know my son has an important destiny ahead of him. He may be able to unite the galaxy in his own way...and perhaps, that may include salvaging the Empire. The future is always in motion, and only now can I truly see that. All I can ask of you, for all the loyalty you have shown me, is to give my son the same. Protect him."_

Executor looked up at the glowing form of her Lord, before snapping to attention. A firm salute was directed at the nebulous form of Lord Vader, as Executor looked into the blinding light.

"You have my word, as a warship of His Imperial Majesty's Navy, that I will serve your son as I served you, Lord Vader. Lord Skywalker will come to no harm, so long as I draw breath."

 _"Thank you, old friend. Thank you."_

The brilliant blue light slowly faded away, leaving Executor alone save for the floating ruins of an Empire. She was a loyal warship of the Imperial Navy. The Star Dreadnought would never serve the Rebellion. But her Lord had given her one, final mission. And serving his _heir..._ the heir to the Empire itself, was a mission she would perform to the best of her ability.

And, perhaps, she could prove Lord Vader wrong. Lord Skywalker may not be his father. He may be loyal to the old Jedi Order and the Rebellion. But she would do her utmost to show him that the Empire had a place in the galaxy. Perhaps, he may be willing to listen to her. A strong hand was needed to keep the Galaxy safe. And the son of Lord Vader was the perfect candidate for that job.

 _I will do what I can to protect and teach him. Jedi or not. Rebel or not. Lord Skywalker is the Heir to the Empire, and I will ensure he lives to take up that mantle. No matter what it takes._

With her mission in mind, Executor flared her powerful engines. Her old hull would never once have survived entering a planetary atmosphere. Her new body, on the other hand...she instinctively knew she could land on Endor. Her shields would be more than enough to protect her from the heat of reentry. She imagined that, if Lord Vader were to be believed, that _Devastator_ was doing much the same. She would find Lord Skywalker, and perform her duty.

That thought kept Executor focused, as red heat flared around her shields. She descended into Endor's atmosphere, knowing instinctively where Lord Skywalker would be found.

 _I am coming, my new Lord. My new Commander._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

There was silence in the _Millennium Falcon_ , save for the soft hum of Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber. The Jedi holding the blade looked past it's emerald beam, at the reason he had been shocked silent. He tangentially acknowledged that the strange girls from the forest were sharing looks behind him, but that wasn't the source of his attention, by any means. No, that was the girl in front of him. There was a part of the Jedi that was resisting the urge to sheathe his lightsaber and call for a medevac, at the sickly condition of the girl. Not to mention the bloody bandage wrapped around her head. That was the altruistic side of him...the one that balked at the idea of leaving an obviously sick and hurt little girl, far too young to be on her own, alone.

The more pragmatic- Han-esque? -side of Luke on the other hand...acknowledged the fact he needed answers. Both from 'Kongou' and her sisters, and from the girl who claimed to be the _Falcon_. Which, on the face of it, was such an absurd claim Luke didn't even know where to begin.

"The..." the Jedi coughed lightly, forcing his disbelief down for now, "Falcon. I'm sorry, but I can't believe that."

"Is it that hard to believe?" the girl smiled up at him, the gesture doing little to change how _weak_ she looked.

"Yes."

Maybe it was the utterly deadpan tone to his voice, something not very Luke-like, but the strange girl broke down into soft giggles at that. For his part, Luke was just feeling a _tiny_ bit overwhelmed. Just a little, tiny bit.

"Sorry, I just..." the girl coughed herself, though hers was more sickly sounding than anything else, "I've never heard you talk like that, _farmboy_. Like I asked earlier though, are you sure your Jedi powers don't let you know I'm telling the truth? Or at least recognize that I'm not lying?"

"The Force...doesn't work that way."

Well, it didn't that Luke knew of. His training was very minor though, probably barely an apprentice by the Old Jedi standards. He'd only had all of a day, not even that, with Old Ben. He'd spent _much_ more time with Yoda, but even then...it wasn't like he was formally trained.

 _Even so..._

This strange girl was right about one thing. The Force _could_ give him an idea of if someone was being truthful with him or not. It was how he had felt the conflict in his Father, through reading his emotions and _knowing_ he was lying, even to himself, when he denied having light still in him. The problem was, the strange feeling surrounding this girl and the sisters behind him, made it rather difficult to get such a delicate reading from them.

"Skywalker-san?" one of the aforementioned sisters, apparently the only one to speak Basic, walked in front of him.

Kongou had a wide grin on her face, as she cast her brown eyes between him and the girl-claiming-to-be-the-ship. A grin that made it clear _she_ believed the child.

"She _is_ a kanmusu, dess!" Kongou exclaimed, pointing at the sickly girl who had an amused look on her face now, "I can tell! Though...she's nothing like _we_ are. It's STRANGE."

Luke tilted his head in confusion, despite himself, "Kanmusu. You've said that twice, but I don't know what it..."

"OH, right," the brown-haired girl slapped her face, "I forgot, you speak ENGLISH not Japanese. Kanmusu means ship girl, dess! We're the spirits of...well, my SISTERS and I are warships. I'm not sure about Falcon-chan. Especially if, THIS is a ship, and it's her. I've never heard of a kanmusu being around with her hull, dess!"

 _"It is fascinating,"_ Kirishima nodded in the background, though the Jedi had _no_ idea what she had said.

 _"You're just excited because this is a spaceship thing, right onee-sama?"_ Hiei first talked to her short haired sister, before turning to her long-haired one at the end of that sentence.

For her part, Kongou just giggled at her sisters, before turning back to Luke, "Have you never SEEN a kanmusu before, Skywalker-san?"

"No. I wasn't aware that ship's _had_ spirits. I've certainly never felt one with the Force before, and I can normally tell if there is something living around," Luke shook his head, "Droids don't have any life force, and I haven't felt one from a ship either."

"Hmm..." Kongou tapped her chin thoughtfully, before her grin was back in full force, "I know! I can show you my rigging, dess!"

Luke might have asked what she meant by 'rigging', but his mind went into overload again. Kongou stepped away from him, and her sisters for that matter, spreading her arms with an even wider grin on her face. That wasn't what messed with Luke however. No, that was the feeling of _power_ shooting from the girl. Kongou and her sisters- and yes, the sickly girl as well -had a sense of suppressed energy around them. Power that, now that Luke had been around them long enough, he felt was more than any girl their size should have. It wasn't the Force, but whatever it was, it was _immense_. There was a sense that Kongou and her sisters were far larger than they looked, however odd that felt.

But now that Kongou was _tapping into_ that power, it was even more noticeable than before. Luke had to back away, holding a hand to his head as the sense of power overwhelmed his senses. Forcing his aching mind to focus, the Jedi turned brilliant blue eyes back on Kongou, who hadn't lost her grin at all. Only...where there had been a girl in odd, but normal-ish, clothing before...there was now a girl surrounded by wood and steel. Her body had a large backpack mounted to her back, the form of what he _assumed_ to be an old oceanic warship, miniaturized to human scale. There were gun turrets, not aiming at anything in particular. There was a _hull_ , underneath those turrets.

And the feeling of size?

 _Kriff...she feels...like..._

It felt like Kongou was not a woman. It felt like she was thousands of tons of steel, shaped like a woman. Luke had _no_ idea how to describe that feeling, but that was what it felt like to him.

"See?" the girl, the _battleship_ , continued to grin, "This is a kanmusu's rigging, Skywalker-san! I'm sure Falcon-chan can show you hers too, dess!"

Luke almost regretted turning around, as he looked at the sickly girl.

"I can try," she answered the unasked question, "But I don't know if I can with..."

Here, she just gestured at the bloody bandage. Even with that though, the girl still pulled her blanket away, bracing herself against the hull as she got to unsteady feet. She winced in obvious pain, stumbling slightly when her feet did touch the floor. Her newly revealed clothing- a dark blue tunic over a thigh-length blue skirt with red stripes down each leg -had red splotches, clearly from bleeding. Luke had to resist every urge he had to go over and get that girl back in the lounge seat. It was a miracle she was even lucid, leave alone standing!

What had _happened_ to this girl?

For her part, she just sent a weak smirk at the Jedi, looking down at her young body, "Not pretty is it? Dad's great at a lot of things, but fixing me up isn't one of them. And remind me to punch Lando too. Losing the dish _hurt_."

"...dad?"

"Han, silly!" the girl rolled her eyes, as she took a steadying breath, "Anyway...right. Rigging."

The same sense of _power_ as with Kongou surrounded the younger girl, as she took in more deep breaths. Luke forced himself to stay focused on her this time, as the rigging coalesced around the girl. First a backpack, wrapping around her waist and glowing with the same blue as the _Falcon's_ engines. Then a quad laser mount, shrunken down to fit in her hand like a pistol. And on her other arm, a miniature version of the _Falcon's hull_. Minus the sensor dish, just like the ship itself. Finally, there was a headband over her dirty blonde hair, terminating where her bandage was.

"You..." Luke blinked slowly, before finally lowering his lightsaber, "You weren't lying. How in the..."

The girl...Falcon...shrugged, as her rigging vanished with a small wince from the girl, "Not sure. I shouldn't be like this, and I don't know how I..."  
As she spoke, Falcon collapsed back on the lounge, wincing and breathing heavily.

"Ow..."

Before Luke could even begin to move forward, worry for the girl completely overtaking his caution now, he was pushed aside by Kongou and her sisters. Who promptly, at least Kongou and Haruna, wrapped the little girl in a hug and started fussing over her. Falcon's pale face went bright red, but it didn't seem like she necessarily _minded_ the attention. That said, Luke wasn't going to just sit back and watch as a casual observer. No matter the impossibility of this situation, and there was still a small part of him that _couldn't_ believe the girl, he couldn't just leave her injured like this. That went against every moral he had.

"Ah...Skywalker-san?" Kirishima cut him off though, speaking in heavily accented Basic, "We...need to get her a...bath. It should...help."

"A bath? How would that help?" Luke frowned lightly.

"It's how we heal, dess!" Kongou chimed in.

 _They heal. With a bath. Dear Force, what have I gotten myself into?_

"Well, we would have to get to the fleet for that. And Han needs to...see this, before I can do that."

"Damn right."

And speak of the smuggler, and he will appear. Han had his typical smirk on his face, leaning against the entrance to the lounge. His arms were crossed over his chest, as he looked the sisters up and down, before turning his gaze to Luke.

"Mind telling me why you've got four pretty women in my ship, kid?" the smuggler-turned-General asked, and despite the humor in his voice, it was a very clear 'tell me now' type of question.

Luke only shrugged helplessly in reply, "I found Kongou and her sisters in the forest. They don't know how they got here, and neither do I. I brought them here to figure things out, hopefully. I wasn't expecting what they were, or who else was here."

"Yeah yeah, I heard. Ship spirits? That's a new one, even for me," Han turned from Luke, and walked up to the girl on the lounge, who was watching him warily, "Dad, huh?"

The girl gulped, looking very small as she squeezed herself against Haruna, "...yes?"

Han only smirked, patting the girl on the arm, "Well, I suppose the _Falcon_ is the closest thing I've ever had to a kid. Guess this just means I'll have to take better care of you now."

Pretty much everyone, from Luke to the Kongou sisters to Falcon herself, were looking at Han with shocked eyes. Especially the Jedi, who was wondering just how in the _hell_ his friend was taking this so well. How long had he been watching? And why was he so easily believing what was going on, considering his stated skepticism regarding the Force? This was something beyond even average Force powers, and Luke should know that. But Han seemed...completely okay with things. How was he so okay with things? Had someone taken Han and replaced him?

Okay, maybe that was going a bit far. But the point remained!

"Why's everyone staring?" the smuggler finally spoke up, raising an eyebrow at the attention he was getting.

"Han, you're..." Luke started, before shaking his head, "You don't believe in the Force, but this doesn't bother you?"

"Hell, kid," Han shrugged, "I still think the Force is a bunch of fancy space magic. But the Falcon here, she's always acted just a _little_ different from other ships. I've flown other freighters that were the same class even, and none of them acted quite like her. Why do you think I'm always talking like she's alive?"

Now that he thought about it, Luke had heard Leia mention that Han had a habit of saying things like 'hold together baby' when piloting. Even so though, it was a bit hard to believe he could so easily adapt to this situation.

"It also helped that I saw 'dess' over there," Han hooked a thumb at Kongou, "use that fancy rigging thing. Same with the Falcon, so, they're not human. Not sure how much I believe about the 'ship spirit' thing, but..."

Here, the smuggler shrugged.

"If they are telling the truth, we just need to get up to the medical frigate and get some scans done."

And _there_ was the skeptic Luke remembered. Even if Han was being accepting of the situation, almost too accepting, he was still saying they needed to confirm things. So the galaxy hadn't been _totally_ turned on it's head...yet...

Why was Falcon paling even more than she already was?

"Luke!" she shouted, at the same time that another female voice did the same from outside the hull.

 _Leia..._

"What's wrong?" the Jedi turned to Falcon, at the same time that Han went running out to Leia.

"There's a couple ships coming down from orbit," Falcon replied, holding her head like it was in pain, "My sensors are shot, but I can tell that much. They're big and Imperial."

The moment the word 'Imperial' left the girl's mouth, Luke had his lightsaber in hand once more. His protesting muscles were already pushing him towards the hatch as quickly as he could move, but not without shouting out over his shoulder.

"Kongou, stay here with your sisters!"

He didn't know if these strange girls were good fighters, despite what they apparently were. He didn't know if they would even be willing to help fight an Imperial landing party. But he wasn't going to take that risk. And if nothing else, they seemed to care for Falcon. Luke could let them stay aboard the _Falcon_ and guard her. It would keep them somewhere where they might be able to help, but without being in the way. He needed all his focus on the incoming Imperials, no divided between that and the strange new girls.

Luke knew better than anyone, how dangerous the Empire could be. He didn't know how they could have snuck ships large enough to shake Falcon through the Rebel fleet orbiting Endor, but he wasn't about to take a risk with them.

 _I thought we had driven their fleet away...something is wrong here._

Not slowing down in the slightest, the Jedi devoted enough of his attention to perform a small Force push, sealing the _Falcon's_ hatch behind him. Han and Leia were waiting for him, both looking up at the night sky. Luke turned away from his friend and sister, and followed their eyes. His own blue eyes widened at what he saw, and he could understand why Leia had sounded so worried.

There were two pinpricks of red light, shooting down from the heavens. _Human_ sized pinpricks.

"They weren't ships..." Luke whispered, watching the dots grow larger as they angled directly at where _he_ was.

This was not going to end well.

"Han, Leia! Get to cover," the Jedi shouted, moving forward under the dim glow of his emerald lightsaber, "I can keep them distracted, but..."

The smuggler just nodded at him, "I got it kid. Come on Leia, let's get where we can cover him."

Leia nodded herself, before sending a worried look at her newly-discovered brother, "Be careful Luke. We'll be right over here."

"When am I not careful?" Luke sent what he hoped was a confident smirk at his sister.

Considering it just got a snort from Han, it probably didn't serve its intended purpose. Still, the other two moved out of sight, leaving Luke to watch the rapidly approaching Imperial ship...spirits. There wasn't anything else they could be, not with Falcon's word and the fact they weren't ship-sized. He couldn't make out features through the reentry heat, but...if Falcon felt strong, and Kongou felt large, these two beat them both by _lightyears_. He couldn't even describe the feeling of power rolling off those red dots, as they began slowing down some distance in front of him.

While it still wasn't the Force, it was utterly gigantic.

 _Who are these two? And why are they coming to me?_

Luke had no answer to that, as the pair finally came to a halt, landing only a few meters away from him. Warily watching for movement, Luke moved his lightsaber slightly, so that the light didn't mess with his vision. What he saw had him confused, as much as anything.

There were indeed two girls, one substantially taller than the other. A good deal taller than himself, as well, though Luke would be the first to admit he wasn't the tallest man around. But it wasn't the height of the girls to get his attention. At least, not with the taller one. What got his attention, more than her blue-grey eyes and dark hair...more than her height...was what was mounted on her left arm. Just as with Falcon, there was a miniaturized hull on that arm. Instead of an almost-shield made of an old Corellian freighter, however, this girl had a much more terrifying form.

The form of a Super Star Destroyer.

"Executor..." the Jedi breathed out, bringing his lightsaber back up, as he dropped into an instinctive defensive stance.

For her part, the girl who could only be his Father's flagship, had an ever so slight smile cross her serious face.

"I am here to serve you, Lord Skywalker."

And she promptly bowed to the hip, as the shorter girl by her side did the same. Luke...

Well, he felt like someone had just pulled the rug out from under him. He imagined his face had twisted into a stupefied expression, his jaw dropping open. It took all the self-restraint he had not to drop his lightsaber from the sheer shock of that statement.

 _...LORD SKYWALKER?_


End file.
